Sidney Poitier's parents were Evelyn (née Outten) and Reginald James Poitier,[10]Bahamian farmers who owned a farm on Cat Island and traveled to Miami to sell tomatoes and other produce. Reginald worked as a cab driver in Nassau, Bahamas.[11] Poitier was the youngest of seven surviving children,[12] and was born in Miami while his parents were visiting. His birth was two months premature and he was not expected to survive, but his parents remained in Miami for three months to nurse him to health.[13] Poitier grew up in the Bahamas, then a British Crown colony. Because of his birth in the United States, he automatically received American citizenship.[13] Poitier's uncle has claimed that the Poitier ancestors on his father's side had migrated from Haiti[14] and were probably among the runaway slaves who established maroon communities throughout the Bahamas, including Cat Island. He mentions that the surname Poitier is a French name, and there were no white Poitiers from the Bahamas.[15]

The name Poitier actually came from a planter of English heritage who immigrated to Cat Island from Jamaica in the early 1800s. His name was Charles Leonard Poitier. In 1834, his wife's estate on Cat Island had 86 slaves, 39 males and 47 females. The slaves kept the name Poitier, a name that was introduced into England during the Norman conquest in the 11th century. That is where the Poitier name actually came from - not from Haiti.[16]

At the age of 15, he was sent to Miami to live with his brother's large family. At the age of 16, he moved to New York City and held a string of jobs as a dishwasher. A waiter sat with him every night for several weeks helping him learn to read the newspaper.[22] He lied about his age and enlisted in the Army during World War II in 1943. He only served briefly as a mental hospital attendant and feigned insanity to get discharged,[23] after which he worked as a dishwasher until a successful audition landed him a spot with the American Negro Theater.[24][25]

Poitier joined the North American Negro Theater, but was rejected by audiences. Contrary to what was expected of black actors at the time, Poitier's tone deafness made him unable to sing.[26] Determined to refine his acting skills and rid himself of his noticeable Bahamian accent, he spent the next six months dedicating himself to achieving theatrical success. On his second attempt at the theater, he was noticed and given a leading role in the Broadway production Lysistrata, for which, though it ran a failing four days, he received an invitation to understudy for Anna Lucasta.[27] By the end of 1949, he had to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for Darryl F. Zanuck in the film No Way Out (1950). His performance in No Way Out, as a doctor treating a Caucasian bigot (played by Richard Widmark), was noticed and led to more roles, each considerably more interesting and more prominent than those most African-American actors of the time were offered. In 1951, he traveled to South Africa with the African-American actor Canada Lee to star in the film version of Cry, the Beloved Country.[28] Poitier's breakout role was as a member of an incorrigible high-school class in Blackboard Jungle (1955).[citation needed]

Poitier was the first male actor of Bahamian descent to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award (for The Defiant Ones, 1958). He was also the first actor of Bahamian descent to win the Academy Award for Best Actor (for Lilies of the Field in 1963). (James Baskett was the first African-American male to receive an Oscar, an Honorary Academy Award for his performance as Uncle Remus in the Walt Disney production of Song of the South in 1948, while Hattie McDaniel predated them both, winning as Best Supporting Actress for her role in 1939's Gone with the Wind, making her the first person of African descent to be nominated for and receive an Oscar). His satisfaction at this honor was undermined by his concerns that this award was more of the industry congratulating itself for having him as a token and it would inhibit him from asking for more substantive considerations afterward.[29] Poitier worked relatively little over the following year; he remained the only major actor of African descent and the roles offered were predominantly typecast as a soft-spoken appeaser.[30]

Poitier began to be criticized for being typecast as over-idealized African-American characters who were not permitted to have any sexuality or personality faults, such as his character in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. Poitier was aware of this pattern himself, but was conflicted on the matter. He wanted more varied roles; but he also felt obliged to set an example with his characters, by challenging old stereotypes as he was the only major actor of African descent being cast in leading roles in the American film industry, at that time. For instance, in 1966, he turned down an opportunity to play the lead in an NBC television production of Othello with that spirit in mind.[35]

In 2002, Poitier received the 2001 Honorary Academy Award for his overall contribution to American cinema. With the death of Ernest Borgnine, in 2012, he became the oldest living man to have won the Academy Award for Best Actor.[36] On March 2, 2014, Poitier appeared with Angelina Jolie at the 86th Academy Awards, to present the Best Director Award. He was given a standing ovation. Jolie thanked him for all his Hollywood contributions, stating "we are in your debt". Poitier gave a brief acceptance speech, telling his peers to "keep up the wonderful work" to warm applause.

Poitier was first married to Juanita Hardy from April 29, 1950, until 1965. In 1959, Poitier began a nine-year affair with actress Diahann Carroll.[40] He has been married to Joanna Shimkus, a Canadian former actress, since January 23, 1976. He has four daughters with his first wife and two with his second: Beverly,[41] Pamela,[42] Sherri,[43] Gina,[44] Anika,[45] and Sydney Tamiia.[46]

In addition to his six daughters, Poitier has eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.[47]

^Because Poitier is a citizen of The Bahamas, a Commonwealth realm, this is a substantive (as opposed to honorary) knighthood, which entitles him to the style "Sir". However, Poitier employs the title only in connection with his former official ambassadorial duties.

^Poitier, Sidney (1980). This Life. US, Canada: Knopf (US), Random House (Canada). pp. 2, 5. At this point [his father, Reginald Poitier] still had four boys and two girls (quite a few to make it through)... (2); When Reginald and Evelyn Poitier returned to Cat Island from Miami, carrying me – the new baby they now called “Sidney” – they were greeted by their six children ... my older brother Cyril, fifteen; Ruby, thirteen; Verdon (Teddy) [female], eleven; Reginald, eight; Carl, five; and Cedric, three. (5)

^Poitier, Sidney (2009). Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter. HarperCollins. p. 84. ISBN978-0-06-149620-2. The question of God, the existence or nonexistence, is a perennial question, because we don't know. Is the universe the result of God, or was the universe always there?

^Sidney Poitier (2009). Life Beyond Measure. HarperCollins. pp. 85–86. ISBN978-0-06-173725-1. I don't see a God who is concerned with the daily operation of the universe. In fact, the universe may be no more than a grain of sand compared with all the other universes.... It is not a God for one culture, or one religion, or one planet.